Weekly Update #211: Feedback Fix-Ups

Today’s blog post is going to be another short one as I am currently on a sort of semi-vacation, so there isn’t too much in terms of progress to report. Nevertheless, I have continued working on GENBA no Kizuna, so let’s talk a bit about the current state of things!

The overall main goal right now is still to finish the extended demo as soon as possible and we are going to do so step by step. Which means that the focus at the moment lies on simply completing the next scene following the content of our current mini demo.

So, over the last two days, I’ve been reading through the script for said scene again, making some adjustments to the writing/pacing based on the feedback we have received so far. I talked about this last week as well, after doing the same for the prologue and I think that, through it, I’ve gotten a better grasp on the writing in general, making it more concise in the process. Maybe it’s still not perfect, but I’m a lot more satisfied with it now than I was before. So I really think that releasing a short demo early on helped a lot.

Either way, the next scene is about 6000 words in length. It contains the character introductions for Rei and Shinketsu, and revolves around Keiichi getting a look at the body of the victim and learning the basics of the case. So just adding this part will make our demo almost twice as long as it currently is and will hopefully give players a much better idea of what they can expect.

I’m going to work on the script a tiny bit more and then give it to Ariette for some final proofreading. Afterwards it’s just a question of visual assets that are still missing. Everything sound-related (so BGM and SFX) is already done. While going through the script, I’ve actually worked on some of the visual assets as well, like the miniature map windows that will be displayed during conversations about the layout of the Kaseki Residence:

There is a bunch of tiny things like this still missing. I’d also like to implement emotional reaction animations, for example. You know, stuff like anger veins or sweat drops popping up next to a character’s head. Furthermore, I want to find a way to adjust the textbox a little bit in order to make it more clear who’s talking. That’s been in the feedback/suggestions we have gotten as well, so I definitely want to look into that a bit. An easy way would be to highlight the sprite of the currently talking character, but I’m not really a fan of that, so I want to see if I can find a different solution.

These are the things I am currently working on. In other news, since a new month has just begun, it’s time for another poll on Patreon! Throughout the entirety of September, you will be able to vote on who will be featured in this year’s Halloween artwork for October! So if you’re a patron, be sure to get your vote in! I have also received the final track we will need for our extended demo from Solo, so patrons should keep an eye open as it might go up tomorrow!

That’s it for this time, so please enjoy the rest of your weekend and, until next Saturday, take care! :3